


No Response

by AndInThoseMoments



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Protective Steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-12
Updated: 2013-01-12
Packaged: 2017-11-25 06:32:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/636100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndInThoseMoments/pseuds/AndInThoseMoments
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a battle, Tony isn't answering his comm, and Steve searches for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Response

**Author's Note:**

> For the "poisoning" square on my HC_Bingo card.

"Iron Man. Report." Steve's voice was loud over the comms, as he raced to the point where Hawkeye had last seen Tony, the point where he had suddenly plummeted from the sky in the suit, having delivered the killing blow to the latest monster despite being on the receiving end of several strikes.

The monster in this case was thirty feet tall, purple with grey overlapping scales and five eyes, all with reptilian pupils and sideways eyelids. Apparently a scientist had become overenthusiastic when playing with some samples of Alien DNA that had been left lying around. The main problem, if you ignored the foot long claws and four inch teeth that could have been used as daggers, was that its breath was poisonous not just to people, but to all living things. 

The monster had killed farm animals, and destroyed farms. Right now there was no idea of human casualties, but it seemed likely considering that both farms and fields had been left devastated, and they would be certain if it could continue. It had had been advancing towards a more built up area when they had managed to catch up with it and halt its attack. It was currently laying in three pieces on the sidewalk, thanks to Tony's aim. Even as he got closer, Steve still couldn't find Tony.

"Iron Man. Report." The urgency in the super soldier's voice was clear. He wasn't worried about the enemy, or the press, or any of the other concerns he should have had. He just had to find Tony.

"Iron Man." Steve nearly cried out in delight when he found him, but that quickly faded when he realised that Tony's helmet was still down, but cracked across the face from a strike by the claws. He pulled away the remains of the visor, shocked by how pale his friend was, how his skin was clammy and his eyes were closed.

"Tony?" He asked, uncertainty evident in his shaking voice, and Tony's eyes stayed closed. He opened them a little and found the gaze behind his lids was unfocussed, empty. But Tony was still breathing.  
"I need medical here right now." Steve demanded, waiting for them. He knew the environment was dangerous, knew that the medical teams had more to deal with than just Stark, but he needed them to come now, this was important.

It was only a couple of minutes before someone arrived, pushing Steve away as they took Tony from him, but they were the longest two minutes Steve had ever lived through. He got up to follow them, but he was turned away.

"Report in." The team all used their code names, even Hulk giving a loud growl, but there was a pause where Tony's name should have been, and an uneasy silence followed it.

The five of them returned to Tony's tower, ate Tony's food, and went to Tony's gym, all trying not to think about the fact they needed Tony to be here, and he wasn't. Natasha spent hours in the gym, Bruce paced the lab, and Steve just watched the visual feed from the hospital room, which JARVIS had commandeered for them.

He watched as the nurse gently lifted Tony's head, to help insert a tube to feed him, and replayed the events of the battle in his mind. He had been hit, as had Natasha, but they were both enhanced. The Hulk was immune to poison. Coulson and Clint had been too far removed to risk getting hit, and Thor was a Norse god. Aside from the occasional common cold, he appeared immune from everything. But it was Tony who had been vulnerable, and had been injured. Tony who was lying on the bed unconscious from the poisoned breath.

These thoughts weren't productive, and Steve knew that, but he ran them through in his head, trying to see if there was anything he could have done differently, any way he could have saved him. Tony had been in the wrong place, and he had suffered. When it was visiting hours, Steve would come and sit beside Tony, and sometimes others would join him. If they were alone, he would draw Tony, or talk to him about the missions that they had been sent on. Eventually he even got up the courage to tell Tony about the pictures - he might not have heard him, but it still felt good to say, to imagine Tony looking at them with interest, those brilliant eyes of his shining. 

It was in the middle of one of these explanations that Tony's hand had twitched slightly, and Steve had nearly jumped in surprise and joy. He carried on talking, wondering if it was his voice having that effect. He didn't want to risk being quiet if hearing him was helping. He placed his hand in Tony's, and let Tony hold onto it.

"We all missed you Tony. You went away too long, and that was bad, but maybe you're coming back now. If you come back, we will forgive you anything."  
"What..." Tony's first attempt at talking wasn't the most coherent, but he persisted. "Birthday party, strippers."  
Steve sighed softly, but he couldn't keep the fondness from his voice. "Yes, I will even forgive you the strippers. Just get better." 

"I will..." Tony promised, and passed out again, once he'd managed to safely entwine Steve's fingers in his own and make sure he wasn't going anywhere. Steve held his hand tightly. He wasn’t planning to leave.


End file.
